The problem and concern relative to the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus which will permit the vehicle operator to determine the vehicle distance traversed per fuel unit consumed. Traditionally this is done by fully filling the gas tank and setting the odometer at zero, or noting the mileage on the mileage indicator, and then driving the vehicle for a distance so that the total distance traversed is again noted and the fuel tank is again filled and the amount of gasoline or fuel added to the tank is also noted. With the information of the distance traversed and the amount of fuel added, one can mathematically compute the distance or miles traversed per unit of fuel. However, that requires that the fuel tank be filled on two occasions, and it also requires that the vehicle be stopped so that the fillings can occur and so that the mileage readings and the calculations can be made.
In the present invention the desired determinations can be made while the vehicle is being driven on level road, and it need not be stopped or parked in order to do so. That is, the present invention allows the operator to determine the distance traveled per unit of fuel while the vehicle is being driven and the operator needs to add fuel to the tank only once in order to make an accurate determination on the road and without requiring that there be a stopping and starting and that there be any fuel consumed in that process. Prior art devices for determining fuel consumption are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,467,847 and 1,558,452 and 1,965,167 and 2,031,192 and 2,765,764 and 2,778,004 and 3,317,130. Those prior art patents differ from the present apparatus and method in that they show indicating gages, such as fuel consumption gages, but they do not show the fuel consumed for a distance traveled, as in the present invention. Specifically, the first of the aforesaid patents shows a mechanism for indicating the quantity of fuel used per hour, and it does not measure the fuel tank fuel level or quantity as such. Likewise, the second patent shows a gage for measuring the fuel consumed per unit of time and and the fourth patent shows a meter for indicating fuel consumption to engine speed. The other references also fail to provide the information for readily and easily determining the distance traversed per unit of fuel consumed.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for determining the distance traversed per unit of fuel consumed, and it does so by utilizing the already installed or conventional fuel gage and distance-traversed odometer existing in conventional vehicles in present day. That is, no special meters or gages need be connected or installed in order to make the final determination which is desired. Further, the determination desired can be made in accordance with this invention while the vehicle is being driven, and at that time the vehicle need not be stopped and the tank need not be filled, nor any fuel need be added, in order to make that determination.
Further, the present invention provides apparatus and a method for determining the distance traversed per unit of fuel consumed, and it does so by means which are readily and easily accomplished and which utilize the existing gages and meters and requires only an attachment, in the apparatus aspect of this invention, and that attachment is in the nature of a sight device which has portions which assist in accurate marking of the fuel gage pointer position for accurate determination of the calculation desired herein. Included in that accomplishment, is the minimizing of parallax usually present in aligning two spaced-apart sight points, such as the fuel gage pointer and the sight device of this invention, and the parallax phenomenon is minimized by the apparatus of this invention.
Other objects and advantages of the apparatus and method of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.